By The newspaper
03 Jun 2024, 02:11 AM EDT
Jury selection in the federal gun case against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden will begin Monday, June 3, after a deal with prosecutors that would have avoided a trial so close to the 2024 election collapsed. .
Hunter Biden was charged with three felonies stemming from the purchase of a firearm in 2018 when he was reportedly mired in a crack addiction. He was accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false statement on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he did not use drugs, and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days.
He pleaded not guilty
He pleaded not guilty and argued that the Justice Department was unfairly targeting him. The trial comes four days after Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies in New York City.
Hunter Biden also faces a separate trial in California in September, where he is accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes. Both cases should have been resolved through an agreement with prosecutors last July.
Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned some unusual aspects of the agreement that included a proposed misdemeanor plea to resolve the tax crimes and a “diversion agreement” on the weapons charge, the AP said.
This, as long as he didn’t get into trouble for two years, the case would be dismissed. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the lead investigator as a special prosecutor in August, and a month later, Hunter Biden was indicted.
This trial is not about Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs, which Republicans have seized on without evidence to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt. But it will excavate some of Hunter Biden’s darkest moments and put them on display, the AP reported.
Distraction for Biden campaign
Allies worry that the trial could become a distraction as President Biden tries to campaign with anemic poll numbers and as he prepares for an upcoming presidential debate as proceedings unfold.
Prosecutors hope to show that he was mired in addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied on the forms. They have said they plan to use Hunter Biden’s published memoirs as evidence, and may also present contents of a laptop he left at a Delaware repair shop and never recovered.
Jury selection
The same news agency said the judge will ask a group of potential jurors a series of questions to determine whether they can impartially serve on the jury, including whether they have donated to political campaigns or run for political office. He will ask them if their opinions on the 2024 presidential campaign prevent them from being impartial.
He will also ask whether potential jurors believe Hunter Biden is being prosecuted because his father is president. Additionally, it will ask about firearm purchases and addiction issues, including: “Do you think someone who is addicted to drugs should not be charged with a crime?”
Prosecutors plan to call as witnesses Hunter Biden’s ex-wife and his brother’s widow, Hallie, with whom he had a romantic relationship.
If Hunter Biden were found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison, although this is not official, and whether the judge would actually give him time behind bars if found guilty.
With information from AP
Keep reading:
- The trial of Biden’s son for tax evasion is postponed until September
- Prosecutor plans to call Hunter Biden’s brother’s ex-wife and widow as witnesses at his trial
- Federal court rejects Hunter Biden’s appeal over weapons charges